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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a verbal commitment from freestyler Logan Richards. He will be joining the Tar Heels in the 2023-24 season. Richards is a rising senior at Owens J. Roberts High School and he swims year-round with the Upper Main Line YMCA.
I am very excited and grateful to announce my verbal commitment to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill!!!! I’d like to thank my family, friends, and most importantly my coaches. GO TAR HEELS!!!!
His commitment comes after a huge progression as a junior that rapidly lept him onto recruiting radars.
Richards is a 2022 Summer Juniors qualifier in the 500 free. He picked up the time at the 2022 PA Boys 3A State Championships. The Owens J. Roberts High School junior swam the 200 and 500 free, earning a spot in the A-final of both races. He touched sixth in the 200 free (1:41.41) and was the State champion in the 500 free. His time of 4:26.93 was the fastest time by 2.5 seconds and met the Summer Juniors qualifying time. Additionally, he earned the honor of being named an All-American in the event.
Richards Winter Juniors qualifier in the 1000 free. He was runner-up in the 1000 at the YMCA Short Course National Championships. His time of 9:17.86 placed him on the podium with a silver medal. He also swam the 100, 200, and 500 free finishing 112th, 22nd, and 8th, respectively.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 free – 1:40.56
- 500 free – 4:26.93
- 1000 free – 9:17.86
- 1650 free – 16:26.35
The Tar Heels will welcome Richards to Chapel Hill in the fall of 2023. He will join as a highly-ranked middle-distance swimmer. During the 2021-22 season, his times would have made him UNC’s third-fastest on the team in the 500 and 1000 free.
Those middle-distance races were a weakness for the Tar Heels last season. The UNC men scored just 14 points in the 500 at the ACC Championships, all via sophomore Patrick Hussey (who will be a senior when Richards arrives). Even with a year of high school left, Richards is already within three seconds of a scoring time in the 500 free at ACCs. Given that he already dropped 16 seconds last season, three more doesn’t seem like a big stretch.
Time Progressions:
| Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | |
| 200 free | 1:51.22 | 1:46.25 | 1:40.56 |
| 500 free | 4:55.66 | 4:42.71 | 4:26.93 |
To contextualize just how far he went in a year: as of July 29, 2021, he didn’t even have a Sectionals cut in the 500 free. By March 16, 2022, he had a Summer Junior Nationals cut.
Other UNC class of 2027 recruits include Tucker Valliere, Colin Whelehan, Ben Delmar, Keith Williams, and Reese Stoner.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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FRC still putting that work in on the PA recruiting front! What an amazing Commonwealth fraternity…Chorba, Troy, Fehr, Baldwin, Coble, Kinderwater!
Boom! Carrying on Matt Baldwin’s legacy of great PA Tar Heels!
Congratulations Logan!